Comment by bitpush

7 months ago

I admire your skill in bringing up, and distracting everyone with Google in a post about Apple's shenanigans. No love lost for Google, but wasnt expecting to read about Google as a top comment on Apple thread.

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bitpush

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lern_too_spel  7 months ago

Especially because the thing he's complaining about doesn't happen on Android. Why? Probably because Android supported setting a default browser app from the beginning, while iOS forced all links to open in Safari by default.

  • cosmic_cheese  7 months ago

    I’m not sure the default browser setting is nearly as relevant here as how Chrome is conveniently the default browser on the overwhelming majority of Android devices, and it’s rare for users to change that.

    If Android shipped with Firefox or Vivaldi or something as its default browser, I’d bet anything that Google’s Android apps would do the exact same Chrome-pushing as their iOS apps.

    • lern_too_spel  7 months ago

      Chrome wasn't even available until Android 4.0 (as a beta), and it wasn't included by default on most phones until later. On most Samsung devices, the default browser has been Samsung Internet for years. Starting March 2024, there is no default browser in the EEA. https://www.android.com/choicescreen/dma/browser/

      Despite all of that, there are no such shenanigans on Android. The reason is almost certainly that Google had to implement such a workaround due to Apple's refusal to allow users to set default apps, and that workaround stuck.

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